


Blue

by Scor_pio



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Bittersweet Ending, Blood and Injury, Falling In Love, Getting to Know Each Other, Goodbyes, Injury Recovery, M/M, Merman Minseok, Prince Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Time Skips, singer Jongdae
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25519342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scor_pio/pseuds/Scor_pio
Summary: Jongdae expected to take a stroll through the beach to calm himself. What he didn't expect was a flashing light in the ocean.
Relationships: Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin
Comments: 15
Kudos: 24
Collections: Round 4: Spring and Summer





	Blue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, this work was for Exo Seasonal Fest Round 4!  
> Prompt #169  
> I took many beach trips just to write this! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

Jongdae erases the scribbled words on paper again. He can’t seem to find the right words. It’s strange for him to not be able to write lyrics when he’s comfortable inside his home...well vacation home. 

He has a few months to relax and enjoy his free time before work takes up his time. He wants to write, something, anything but nothing's coming out of his brain.

He sighs before putting down his pencil and stands up. Maybe, just maybe, a stroll on the beach will calm his nerves. It’s dark outside but maybe being out in the cold chilly air will bring something out of him.

He quickly puts on his hoodie and his sneakers before locking the door. The walk to the beach wasn’t long, just walking down a dirt path. He can hear the wind brushing against the leaves, the slow crashing of waves against the surface, and the soft and almost there, music in the village a few minutes away.

The salty smell of the ocean invades his nose and a smile slowly climbs onto his face. He hears the rustling of sand moving beneath him. The atmosphere is vastly different from the bustling city of Seoul. He doesn’t hear the cars honking, the people talking, the polluted air, and the lack of nature.

He looks at the glowing moon above as it outlines the waves. He walks for a few moments admiring the view. He blinks his eyes when he sees a shining light in the water. He wonders if it was the moon’s rays shining down but as he stared longer, he noticed that it was flickering, the light.

He decided that maybe someone needed help out there, so he took off his shoes and clothing before running into the water. The water was cold and he could feel his teeth chattering. He swims closer to the light and notices that it’s underwater.

He doesn’t think about it any further and swims. He can’t touch the floor underneath and could barely see it. He looks at the beach and notices the distance, maybe a few yards away. He tries to look for the blinking light and dives right back in once he sees it. 

His eyes have been accustomed to the salty seawater after swimming constantly. He swims closer to the flickering light but once he saw the person with the light, he almost forgot that he was holding his breath.

The person, no, the mermaid was the one causing the flickering light. He swims up towards the surface and takes a huge gasp of air. Once he inhales deeply, he dives right back in towards the mermaid. He notices that it was the tail that was causing the flickering light. Once he was close enough, he noticed it was a man, with the outline of muscle.

He holds the merman as he swims toward the surface. He swims towards the beach, the only source of light was the moon and the flickering light of the merman’s tail, which is starting to dim.

Once his feet touch the ground, he starts pulling the merman towards the surface. He doesn’t know if they can survive outside of the water for a long time. If he references the fairytales, they should be able to breathe air if they can suntan on big boulders.

The merman was heavy, considering he was pure muscle. He looks at the man’s face and notices glitter? Scales? He doesn’t know but it rests on his cheekbones and neck. The moonlight is casting a beautiful outline of the merman in his arms.

He stops ogling for a minute to drag the male to his beach house. He’s thankful that his house has a pool with salt water instead of chlorine. He doesn’t know if it’s good for the merman.

Once he reaches the door, he unlocks it and flicks the lights on. He drags the man across his house and finally reaches his pool. He slowly dumps the man on the stairs in the pool and he collects himself. That workout should cover for the next two weeks.

He takes a closer look at the merman, now that he could see him clearly under the artificial light.

Cotton candy blue hair stuck to his forehead. His skin was so smooth, glowing under the light. His lips were a flushed pink and his lips were soft and plump. Blue scales decorated his cheekbones and slowly trailing down the side of his neck. They trail down lower, towards his collarbones and the top of his chest. Another patch of scales was found on his back shoulders. 

The man’s body was pure sin, full of muscle and the light outlines every detail. His eyes trail down lower and he notices his tail. His tail was a shade darker than his scales on his skin. They reflected light off and his fin was translucent white, like a wedding veil. 

His fingers were nice, the fingertips were transitioning into a pale blue, some with the elbows. The merman was ethereal, a gay man’s fantasy of beauty.

Jongdae’s eyes quickly catch the color red near the man's side. He panics and quickly turns the male over and notices that the merman was stabbed? Shot? 

Running inside his house, he grabs the first aid kit and a couple of water bottles from the kitchen and runs back out. He pulls the body on the concrete floor and tries his best to clean the area. He's thankful that his medical staff would tell him how to use a first aid kit.

Putting on rubber gloves and grabs the offered piece of cloth, he applies pressure onto the wound to stop the bleeding. He can see the merman’s face pinched in pain. Once he thought the bleeding had stopped, he grabbed the water bottle beside him. He started to slowly pour it over the wound and watch the dust flow away.

He remembers that he needs to get Saline Solution and if he remembers, it’s sodium chloride mixed with water. Wait a minute, isn’t seawater the same as sodium chloride. He shakes his head and decides not to risk it getting infected. He slowly pours it a few inches away from the wound and he cringes at the feeling. Even if it wasn’t him that was injured, he can imagine how painful it would be.

Once he thinks the wound is clean, well as clean as a bloody wound could get, he grabs the antibiotic ointment. He carefully applied a copious amount onto the wound, hoping that it was enough to prevent infection.

Does he grab the bandage patch? He doesn’t know, but he’s using it. He grabbed it from the packet, already sterilized and ready for him to use. He puts it over the spot and immediately wraps it with the gauze. He closes it with tape and hopes that it would be able to hold everything in place.

Once he wipes the sweat off his brow, he looks at the merman now; his face is relaxed instead of in pain and his scales are shining even brighter than before.

He decided that it would be better to sleep than stare at the gorgeous merman.

❂❂❂

Jongdae wakes up to the sun shining on his face. He grumbles, pulling the covers over his head. A few minutes of silence was all he needed to go back to sleep before he heard splashing outside. He furrowed his brows for a bit, thinking it was the birds until he remembered last night.

Taking a stroll by the beach at night to rescue a merman from the ocean. He jumps out of his bed and rushes towards his pool. He slipped the glass door and was welcomed by the sight of the merman swimming in his pool lazily.

He loudly gasped and the noise caught the attention of the male in the pool. The merman quickly stared at him and tilted his head. Jongdae looked down at his outfit and saw that he was in sweatpants and a large baggy t-shirt. His hair probably looks like a bird’s nest and his face is probably swollen.

“Uhm, hi.” Jongdae greets. The merman probably doesn’t even understand Korean. He walks a little closer to the pool. “I found you out in the water near my house. Your tail was glowing so I thought someone was in trouble.”

He fumbles with the ends of his t-shirt, who knew that talking to a merman would be so intimidating. He hears a splash and looks and the merman who’s laying his arms on the edge of the pool. The man tilts his head, blue strands falling over his blue eyes. Everything about this man is blue.

“Thank you. For saving my life, I'll give you my sacred name.” 

Jongdae gapes at him. Did the merman just speak Korean? 

“Minseok. Kim Minseok. The next heir of the trident and throne.” Minseok smiles at him, his gums showing and his cat-like eyes crinkling.

Jongdae blinks in shock. Did he just say heir to the throne and trident? Did he save a prince? Oh god, he must be dreaming. “Uhm, my name is Kim Jongdae but you can just call me Jongdae.” He doesn’t know if he should bow in the presence of royalty or something.

“Jongdae. That sounds nice.” Minseok says in his melodic voice. He looks at Jongdae. “What’s your status?”

Jongdae blinks at Minseok. Status? “Well, I’m a singer.” He saw the merman’s eyes shine a little.

“A singer, so you must be low class. I love singers.” Misneok says as he smacks his tail against the water.

The singer’s cheeks heat up and he can tell that the merman is teasing him. “Uhm actually, it’s quite up there, I think. We have fans and have media exposure.”

“So you’re royalty then?” 

“Uhm, no. I just sing and people like to listen to my songs.”

“I see.”

There is a quiet silence between them. The grumble of Jongdae’s stomach reminded the owner that he hadn't eaten breakfast and the same for Minseok.

“What do you eat for breakfast? I don’t think I’ll have everything but I can try to find something.” 

“Uh well, seaweed, fish, almost anything that can be eaten raw I suppose,” Minseok says and sinks into the water. “Anything works.”

Jongdae takes that as a hint to start making breakfast. Luckily, there's an outdoor kitchen area. He doesn't use it but he’s quite happy that he has one. He doesn't want to leave the merman alone while making breakfast.

He opens the fridge and grabs a dead fish from the shelf. He needs seaweed, well, he can go grab some from the beach, can’t he? He finds a few clams and decides to give Minseok clams instead of seaweed. Maybe for lunch, he can get him some seaweed.

The fish and clams need to be cleaned. He doesn’t know if mermen are immune to bacteria and diseases but he isn’t risking it. He skins the fish and breaks open the clams. He silently hums to himself, hoping to keep his mind occupied. He hears another voice humming but it sounds muffled. 

He peers over the counter and notices that Minseok is calmly swimming and humming to himself. The blue scales seem to stand out against the water, along with the bright blue hair.

He shakes his head and focuses on the food. The merman is enticing, captivating. He turns off the stove and takes out a plate to put the food onto. He walks towards the edge of the pool and sits down.

“Here is your breakfast. Not entirely sure how you like everything but I hope you like it.” He watches as Minseok swims towards the edge and looks at the plate. He grabs the clam and slurps it. He looks at Jongdae and hums. 

“It’s really good...cooked?” Minseok tilts his head and looks at Jongdae for affirmation. Jongdae nods his head and Minseok smiles. He looks at the fish and takes a bite, chewing for a few seconds. “It tastes different. It’s good but I’m not quite used to the texture or taste.”

Jongdae watches Minseok finish his plate before realizing that he hasn’t made himself breakfast. “I’m going inside to grab something to eat real quick.” He says as he stands up. Minseok just nods his head before continuing to eat.

He quickly walks to the kitchen inside his house. He doesn’t want to leave the merman alone, so he decides that cereal is the quickest option. 

Walking outside with a bowl of cereal, he notices that the plate is empty, with just the clamshell and fish bones laying there. He walks over and lays his cereal on the ground before sitting down. Grabbing the cereal off the floor, he eats while watching Minseok swim around his salty pool.

“Is the pool okay for you?” He asks. Jongdae doesn’t want him to be uncomfortable when he should be relaxing and healing. Minseok stops before shaking his head.

“This is perfectly fine. I’m quite comfortable with the size if that’s what you’re asking?” He continues swimming around the perimeter.

Jongdae doesn’t say anything else and continues watching. He supposes this isn’t an entirely normal morning for either of them.

❂❂❂

Minseok wasn’t quite sure how he got here; one second he was swimming near the surface and the next second he woke up in a small pool of water. He didn’t know how to feel about the situation, especially with the huge wound on his side.

He’s thankful that Jongdae was kind enough to help him. Introductions were awkward but he doesn’t think that the human would expect to see one of his kind and a prince. Lazily swimming is what he’s been doing for the last couple of hours while Jongdae was on some sort of rock? 

It didn’t look like a rock but it sure functioned as one. Jongdae was holding onto a stick and a thin piece of slab. The slab was very flimsy like seaweed and the stick was producing marks. He was writing with curves, circles, and lines.

“What’s that in your hand?” His velvet voice cuts through the silence. Jongdae lifts the pen in hand and lifts an eyebrow at him.

“The pen?” He asks which receives a nod. “Well, we write with it on a piece of paper.” Lifting the paper and showing him the scribbles on it.

So, that’s what that thin slab was, paper. The stick was a pen, to  _ write _ on the paper. “What is writing?” This makes the human look at him in shock and then bursts out laughing. His laugh was something, like a sunrise to a new day. 

Minseok’s question wasn’t answered but it made Jongdae laugh. He wants to hear that laugh again.

❂❂❂

Days have passed, with Minseok singing and swimming around the pool. Jongdae spent his days writing and singing with the occasional voice of Minseok’s. The sun was glaring from above, making Jongdae sweat and forcing his t-shirts to be replaced with tank tops. 

Minseok’s skin glows below the sunrays, water droplets gleaming and outline every feature on his body. Jongdae truly believes that Minseok was a siren because if mermen exist, so should sirens. His voice was like smooth silk, gliding through the air, luring him towards the cool water. 

Right now, Jongdae wouldn’t mind jumping into the pool but with a certain blue-haired man in it, he second-guesses his actions. He’s laying underneath an umbrella while looking at Minseok, happily letting the sun hit his skin. Has Minseok ever appreciated the sun before? Do mermen ever go above the surface?

Lost in his mind, he doesn’t realize Minseok swimming to him. Jongdae’s mind comes back to reality when the cold encases him and floating was like second nature. He gasps for air, hearing the pleasant sound of laughter escaping from Minseok. He opens his eyes, awestruck at the lopsided, gummy smile shown before him.

Jongdae splashes water at the merman which erupts a gasp fro the man. A playful smile stretches across his face and smacked his tail against the water, a wave attacking Jongdae.

“Oh, you’re on,” Jongdae says. “You better prepare yourself.”

Countless saltwater smacks to the face, cries of laughter and wide smiles happened for an hour before they were panting, calling a truce.

“That was so much fun.” Minseok breathily said.

“Yeah, remind me when I was younger. I would cover my brother with water from head to toe.” Jongdae leans against the edge of the pool. Minseok slowly joining beside him.

“You smacked people with water?”

“Only when we went to the beach.” Jongdae raised an eyebrow at Minseok. “Have you smacked someone with water?”

“Nope, this was my first time.” He revealed as he watched his blue tail shine. “We weren’t allowed near the surface. So I never had the opportunity to fool around with the sun. We know about the surface, we just weren’t allowed to experience it.”

Jongdae stares. He completely forgot that he was talking to a prince to an entire underwater kingdom. Atlantis? “So what did you do?”

A small smile appeared on Minseok’s face. “We collected seashells and pebbles and made them into jewelry, sang to music played around with animals talk. We are all very tight-nit, always helping each other and the sort.”

Jongdae hums and looks at the sky. He knows that tone of voice, a person who misses something and want it back. “Do you miss home?”

“Of course. Imagine being in a place where you don’t recognize anything.” Minseok takes a glance at Jongdae. He had a melancholic expression written on his face. The sun was hitting against his cheekbones, outlining his sharp jawline. His naturally curled lips stayed neutral as he looked at the sky. 

His voice had a wide range and it was so charming to hear and his looks were so captivating. A siren indeed if he wasn’t human. Minseok’s quite thankful that Jongdae was a human, the better option out of the two.

❂❂❂

Jongdae couldn’t sleep. He needed to write something, anything, but nothing comes up, He stares at the ceiling, wanting words to form and melodies to sing. Getting up and opening the window, he feels the cold air smoothly over him. The Moon and stars lighting up the night with a luminescent glow. 

He briefly looks down at the pool and sees Minseok sleeping at the bottom. He looks so peaceful even from this far. A soft tune suddenly comes to mind and he hums along with it. He quickly grabs his notebook and writes down the lyrics.

❂❂❂

Minseok and Jongdae were relaxing under the sun, hearing each other’s breathes and the seagulls squawking occasionally. 

“So, there are squidmen, sealmen, sharkmen?” Jongdae questions. 

“Yup, but we all live separately from each other. Like Kingdoms, you know.” 

“That’s quite interesting, so there’s no dispute between you guys?”

“Nope, we all live in different regions and some co-exist with each other,” Minseok says as he turns to his side, facing Jongdae. “It’s pretty nice.”

Jongdae turns to look at Minseok, noticing his injury is healing fast. Normally, a human would take months to heal but Minseok is almost done in a month. He knows that there’s going to be a mark, but it’ll only enhance his beauty with the blue scales surrounding the scar.

He turns around to face the other and smiles at him. “It feels nice to talk to someone,” Jongdae says. “I don’t talk to a lot of people.”

“Why is that?” Minseok asks,

“I’m a singer, and with that comes along a lot of people who want to use my reputation to their advantage.”

“You sound like you’re in high class.” 

Jongdae laughs and shakes his head. “People admire me for my music and that’s how I make a living, by singing.”

“Hm, that sounds like you enjoy it.” Minseok mumbles and his eyes slowly close.

“Yeah, I do.” Jongdae smiles as he watches Minseok take a small nap.

❂❂❂

Jongdae woke up from the water smacking against the concrete. He quickly went to check what was happening and rushed outside. Minseok was having a nightmare, his tail was splashing against the water, his pained whimpers and the cries he would usually let out. Jongdae didn’t know what to do but he couldn’t let Minseok hurt himself more with his scar still recovering.

He submerged himself into the pool, with his clothes still on. The only light provided was the moon. Minseok’s scales were glowing slighting, but his tail was like a lamp. He quickly swam to the merman, hoping to stop him from getting near the edge.

Grabbing Minseok, he quickly hugged him, whispering comforting words. Minseok’s whimpers and thrashing have calmed down and he was sleeping limply against him. His body was warm instead of cold. 

His hold on Minseok was soft, being mindful of his abdomen. He stayed in the water for a long time until he was sure that Minseok wouldn’t have another nightmare. Jongdae looks at the merman’s youthful, peaceful face as he slept. 

When he walked back into his room, after getting into comfortable dry clothing, he sees the notebook sitting on his desk. He walked towards it and opened his notebook, knowing exactly what to write. The image of Minseok peacefully sleeping in his arms kept replaying in his head.

❂❂❂

Minseok was listening to Jongdae singing in his room. His ears were blessed with his voice. He could stay here and listen to Jongdae sing. He knew that he was going to leave soon, his wound is healing quickly. He didn’t want to leave Jongdae and his beautiful voice, with those kitty lips.

He knows he’s fallen for the human, even if they haven’t talked much or known each other. His kindness and honesty reached him, and that was enough for him. Jongdae probably doesn’t know about his feelings and that’s okay with him, he can just appreciate his time with him now.

He’s Silently humming a love song from his kingdom, usually meant to confess one’s feelings. He can sing it discreetly without Jongdae knowing. Jongdae hums it occasionally and it brings joy in him even though he knows it wasn’t a confession.

❂❂❂

Jongdae can’t get Minseok out of his head and he can’t stop writing. Every time he looks at the other, he’s struck with awe and he knows exactly what it is. He knows he likes Minseok, romantically. He knows their time together is almost done. He just can’t bring it to himself to confess, so he just keeps it to himself.

He keeps humming the song Minseok does whenever he stares at him. It was beautiful and enchanting to hear. The song just fits Minseok and it fits the song, it fits with almost anything. He needs Minseok’s humming, needs his voice once he’s gone because he knows they won’t see each other. 

They’re both from different worlds and he couldn’t make Minseok stay just so he could be happy. Minseok is the prince, for god’s sake, he belongs over there, not here with him in a saltwater pool. 

❂❂❂

“You want me to hum the song in that small block in your hand?” Minseok questions as he stares at Jongdae.

“Yes, I need it,” Jongdae says, holding his phone. “It’ll help me whenever I need to write a song.”

A small blush forms on Minseok’s face as he gives a small nod. He slowly starts humming the entire song into the phone, occasionally looking into Jongdae’s eyes. His chest feels is heavy, with so much emotion, so much love.

Jongdae is truly ethereal, wanting his voice to help him write more songs. Is this what some of the singers at the kingdom meant by being someone’s muse. He’ll gladly do it over again and again if he can inspire him.

Once Minseok finished humming, Jongdae couldn’t look away from Minseok’s blue eyes. They don’t move, just stare at each other, thinking the other was a gift.

❂❂❂

They both agreed that in the morning on Saturday, they would say goodbye to each other at the beach. Jongdae kept trying to think of a gift to send Minseok, to remember him by. He knows it’s a bit much but he needs to thank Minseok for the help. 

He suddenly looks at the CD on his bookshelf. It’s an empty one but he knows what to do with it. He quickly grabs his phone and notebook before running to the small sound booth in his house.

❂❂❂

Minseok hasn’t seen Jongdae the entire day. He’s been locked up in his house and has only come out to give him his meal. They talked a bit but then he would go back to his house. He wondered if he’s planning something. He just hopes that they’ll have time to talk before he leaves.

❂❂❂

Jongdae woke up feeling a bit empty, knowing that he’ll say goodbye to Minseok. He grabs the CD and quickly dresses casually. He slowly walks outside, where Minseok was waiting for him at the edge of the pool. He had a small smile on his face, not the usual smile with the lopsided upper lips showcasing his gums.

“You ready?” Jongdae asks as he’s within reaching distance from the other.

“Yeah.” Minseok hugs Jongdae. “I’m ready.”

Jongdae lifts Minseok into his arms and carries him to the beach. The sun was peaking over the ocean, the stars slightly disappearing. It was different than the night he saved the merman, where it was silence and full over worry.

He holds Minseok tightly, afraid that once he let’s go, he won’t be able to hold the other. Minseok holds onto him tightly, he didn’t want to leave those comforting arms that bring warmth and comfort.

They both can smell the ocean breeze and the crashing of waves. Jongdae stopped and slowly knelt into the water. Minseok let go of him and felt the refreshing cold water that he grew up with. They looked at each other and smiled.

“Thank you for saving me, I’m glad that it was you,” Minseok says quietly. “I’m happy.”

“I’m happy too,” Jongdae says as he stares at Minseok’s eyes, which reflect the ocean. “That I saved you.”

They both stared at each other’s eyes and somehow, it reflected their feelings towards each other. Minseok reached forwards and kisses Jongdae, Minseok can feel himself floating on the soft lips against his own. Jongdae kisses back, holding Minseok’s face gently, rubbing his thumb against the other’s cheek.

They part from each other, leaning their foreheads together as they stared at each other. Their smiles were bittersweet but they both felt happy, that they can at least express how they felt for the other.

Jongdae reaches into his back pocket and grabs the CD. He takes Minseok’s hands and slips the blue CD into his hands. “This is my gift for you. I know you won’t be able to hear it but I sang for you.”

Minseok holds this CD close to his chest as a tear runs down his face. “Thank you.” He quickly grabs a scale from his tail and peels it off cleanly. He hands it to Jongdae and smiles softly at him. “This is my gift for you, to remember me.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget someone as beautiful as you,” Jongdae speaks slowly. “You are a merman after all.” 

Minseok laughs and looks at the ocean, slowly calling out to him. Jongdae knows what Minseok’s thinking and motions him to the ocean. “Go.” Jongdae whispers. “Go home.”

Minseok looks at Jongdae and kisses him slowly. “Goodbye, Jongdae.” He quickly turns around and starts swimming towards the open ocean.

Jongdae watches him swim away, with a smile on his face and a blue scale in his hands.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”


End file.
